22 History of Nature. [BooK VIII. 



Claws within a Sheath, that they may not be Broken, or 

 rendered Blunt; and that when they run the Hooks are 

 turned back, and are never stretched forth but when they 

 seize an Object. 1 



CHAPTER XVI. 

 Of Lions . 2 



THE Lions are then in their high Perfection vhen the 

 Hair of their Mane covereth the Neck and Shoulders. And 

 this cometh at a certain Age to them that are the Progeny 

 of Lions indeed ; for such as have Panthers to their Sires 

 never have this Ornament ; 3 as also has not the Lioness. 

 Lionesses are very lecherous, which is the cause that there 

 is so much Anger in the Lions. This Africa seeth most, 



1 Sir Charles Bell, " Bridgewater Treatise," p. 102, says, " The last 

 bone, which supports the claw, is placed laterally to the next to the last, 

 and is so articulated with it that an elastic ligament draws it back and 

 raises the sharp extremity of the claw upwards. In the ordinary running 

 of the animal the nearer extremity of the furthest bone presses the 

 ground, this and the furthest extremity of the second bone, which is also 

 bent down, being received on a pad, which acts as a cushion, and also adds 

 to the elasticity. In this condition the claw itself is received into a sheath 

 above ; but when the creature strikes an object, the claws are brought for- 

 ward, and bent under by the action of the flexor tendons acting on the 

 last bone, assisted by the extensors, which cause to start upward the end 

 of the second bone as by a spring. It is only the excitement of seizing an 

 object that can produce this action ; and when this does not exist, the 

 bones and claw fall into their ordinary almost dislocated condition." 

 Wern. Club. 



2 Felis Leo. LINN. Wern. Club. 



3 Aristotle also speaks of a maneless lion, " Hist. Anim." ii. 31 ; and 

 modern science has confirmed the assertion of these ancient naturalists, but 

 of course without accrediting its monstrous birth. Olivier, " Voyage dans 

 1'Kmpire Othomau, 1'Egypt, et la Perse," tom.iv. says that the lion which 

 inhabits the part of Arabia and Persia near the river of the Arabs, from 

 ilie Persian Gulf to the environs of Helle and of Bagdad, is probably the 

 species of lion of which Aristotle and Pliny have spoken, and which they 

 regarded as a different species from that which is spread over the interior 

 of Africa. This lion much resembles the African species, excepting that 

 it is smaller and has no mane. la 1833 Captain Since exhibited to a 

 meeting of the Zoological Society of London the skins of a lion and lioness 



